PALM BEACH POST COVERS SEVEN BRIDGES LAWSUITS TWO MONTHS AFTER OUR FIRST REPORT.
DELRAY BEACH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) — You would think that the Palm Beach Post could engage in its own, independent journalism. After all, a paper owned by Gannett should be able to find stories without help. But again, that’s just not the case.
In the latest episode of local media leaning on BocaNewsNow.com, the PBPost today is reporting on several lawsuits regarding residents at Seven Bridges, an upscale community in West Delray Beach.
BocaNewsNow.com reported on the first lawsuit back on July 29th. Our reporting continued on July 30th and August 25th. There was an update on September 5th. You can read all of our stories through the “lawsuits” link, above. BocaNewsNow.com logs more than 1.3 Million pageviews a month. We’re not a tiny website that no one sees.
But the Palm Beach Post, as is so often case, was late to the party. Their freelance reporter who covers HOAs — but apparently isn’t a paid staff member — reported for the first time on September 12th.
Incredibly, the Palm Beach Post’s copycat journalism comes the same week that its front page was completely devoid of coverage of a pivotal Palm Beach County School Board meeting until nearly 48 hours after the meeting. The reopening of Palm Beach County Schools affects families of 180,000 students. What did the Post cover instead? The five best burgers you can find.
Earlier this year, WPEC-TV12 apologized to BocaNewsNow.com for using our work without credit. We also have received apologies — and even thanks — from the Sun Sentinel.
There is possibly nothing more important right now than fact-based journalism. But journalists should find their own stories and own them. Instead, lazy, local reporters are increasingly copying BocaNewsNow.com’s intensive coverage of stories that matter most.
Perhaps the Palm Beach Post needs to be sold to a company that can put resources into its business. As of 9:15 AM Saturday, September 12th, the National Hurricane Center had dropped the tropical storm watch for South Florida. But the Palm Beach Post’s online lead story still screamed that a tropical storm watch was in effect. The story posted at 5:55 p.m. Is no one running this paper?
Perhaps the Palm Beach Post needs new management that monitors what its reporters are doing — flagging copycat stories and suggesting they find something else. If the reporting continues, these organizations should follow the standard journalistic practice of acknowledging the source where the story first appeared.
Paying for something you can get for free is never a good idea. BocaNewsNow.com is free. The Palm Beach Post is not. Paying for the Palm Beach Post right now is like paying for a rerun. You know that you’ve seen it somewhere else before.
